Oil burner for tobacco curing barns



Oct. 18, 1955 R, w. DUFFl-:LL 2,720,917

OIL BURNER FOR TOBACCO CURING BARNS Filed Aug. 17, 195] 2 Sheets-Sheet l F ig.

j BY 34* 6g Ma/.45km

United States Patent OIL BURNER FOR TOBACCO CURING BARS Ralph W. Duiell, Hendersen, N. C. Application August 17, 1951, Serial No. 242,37 7

1 Claim. (Cl. 15S- 57) The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in an oil burner which is expressly adapted for practical and eicient use in a tobacco drying and curing barn and it has more particular reference to a burner whose components are properly and specially assembled for use in association with conventional distributing flue means and a stack which is connected with said ilue means.

Tobacco curing burners which are known and in use are generally employed in pairs and it is an object of the instant invention to provide a burner whose unusual and unique construction increases the eiciency of `operation to the point that ample heating and drying results may be obtained through the medium of a single burner and flue arrangement.

Another object of the invention is to provide an oil burning tobacco curer or curing burner which is possessed of highly desirable features of reiinement and distinction, these being harmoniously organized to provide an over-all burner construction in which manufacturers and users will nd their respective requirements fully met and which is in keeping with the rigid safety requirements of State laws in which burners in this eld'are most likely to be used.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tobacco curing burner which is simple, economical, practical, efficient for original installation and repair requirements and utilizes a novel oil receiving, Vaporizing and burning ring and a complemental underlying base unit, said unit being characterized by a trough which is properly associated with the ring for preliminary priming, preheating and starting purposes.

More specifically, novelty is predicated upon a structurally distinct casting which forms the stated base unit, thelatter having a trough with an outstanding apertured plate encompassing its outer perimeter and providing a ledge for seating a flue adapter cone, the inner peripheral portion of the trough having ange means which :in turn is provided with an excess oil over-flow and retrieving channel.

Further novelty is predicated on a base unit having the stated trough and other features and a perforated oil burning and vaporizing ring above the open top of the trough, said ring having an adjustable depending pipe which delivers oil from the ring into the trough in a satisfactory manner.

l What is more, novelty has to do with the trough, burner ring combination in conjunction with a water container which is included in the immediate vicinity of the Aburner ring and which in this position, serves to'heat and vaporize the water, allowing the water vapor jets to mingle with the gas jets and kto in this manner provide a highly'efficie'nt and economical fuel combustion and .burning result- Other objects and advantages will b ecome more readily apparentnfrom the followingV description and 'the accoinpanyingsheets of illustrative drawings.

' In the accompanying drawings:

t" 2,720,917 atented Oct. 18, 1955 Figure l is a top plan view of the burner constructed in accordance with the vprinciples of this 'inventionfs th parts broken away and'shown yin section and with the ilue and flue adaptenmeans omitted for clearneffss of illustration of the parts;

Figure 2 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation which is taken on the irregularline 2 2 bf Figure l, looking in the direction of the'arrows; l

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 34-3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; Y i' Figure 4 is a view of a diagrammatic nature which shows a typical plan of a tobacco curing barn, the single tobacco curing burner, ue assembly'aiid other'compol nents;

Figure 5 is also a view in section and elevation which shows somewhat diagrammatically the manner in which water is delivered to the water supply means in ythe burner from a remote lever controlled source; and" Figure 6 is a'view similar to FigureZ showing a modication in construction, said vview being vfrag mentarily presented and contracted somewhat in'A Ldii'rierisions.

Referring n ow to the drawings and first to the form of the invention characterized in Figures l to 5 inclusive reference is had first to Figures l to 3. Here'theaorementioned base unit is denoted by the numeral v8 and, as mentioned, this takes the f orm of a single casting provided with suitable supporting legs 10 adapted ytefrist on 4the ground in the tobacco barn. An essential part of the castingl is the aforementioned vopen to'p'oilV receiving, priming and preheatin'g trough .12.' This is of annular formland attached 'to the bottom of the outer peripheral Wall 'thereof 'is Circular horizbtal plate 14 'Whose top is provided at the Gter perimeter 'With an upstanding rib 1.6 This plate iS also, P rQvided with elongated o r'suitable air passing slots'lS and also seryes as az'ledge to'supprort the truncated conical fiueadapter 2i). The lower en d of the adapter re'sts'on the ledgeplate and is held in p lace by the shoulder provided b y the rib 16- There is a Suitable'be Platt 2.2. an the i11- terior of the adapter. The inner wall 24,1`isr proyided with .a Circular lierre@ portion 26 PQYdiIlg @fait Dtsaae at 2.8 and als@ c'fonstructd to -Prfivdtftlr Shallow o il overflow and retrieying channel 30. The return pipe 32 is connected with this channel and is in turn connected to a horizontal pipe 34 .which entends undergr nd .and drains the 'line .from the barrier inta a Suitable il retrieving Sumplircilentaly, the pipe .3.4 just metrrsd,

showni'n dotted lines in the vdiagram in Figure 4, and

thfesump is deflated by the numeral 36! The 'afererjnmioned .oil receiying' and vaporzing burner ring is denoted by the numeral 35. This is'cif .tubular as 1well as annular formv and is of Aa diameter so thaty it is disposed in spaced parallelism aboye'the open ,top of rthe trough It is provided with ports in the manner best shown in Figure 2. It is vsupport-:ted by a vertical standing pipe or the like 42 which has a lateral branch 44 communicating with .the oil Vspace in the ring 5S.. I f preferred the ring maybe' provided with depending legs 4 6 and these, in practice, will reist in A theutroiigh 12 to assist in maintaining the parts in concentric relationship. In addition the oil ring 38 is provided with one or more communicating pipes between itself and the trough. One such pipe is denoted at 48 in Figure 2 and has its threaded upper end 50 adjustably connected with the underside of the ring and extending half way up into the oilspace in the ring. The oil level is ,thus maintained at the point ldenoted by the numeral 5-2. The

lower end of the pipe extends down into the space of the trough and terminates short of the bottom of the trough.

The numeral 54 denotes a suitably shaped and proportioned water containing tank or equivalent container. This-has a circular top portion 56 whose marginal edge portion 58 rests on'and coacts with an inner Water vaporizing ring L60. This ring .surrounds the tank and is joined thereto by connections 62 and is provided with oriices or ports 64 opposite to the ports 40 and cooperating with the latter in an obvious manner. The water ring is also provided with short legs or feet 66 and these rest onthe ledge ange 26 as shown in Figure 2. The water pipe which delivers water'to the heating and vaporizingV tank is denoted by the numeral 68 and this is joined by a vertical pipe 70directly to the tank. As best shown in Figure 5 this water pipe is communicatively connected to a well'or other suitable reservoir 72 which constitutes a source of supply. Float controlled valve means V74 is provided so that the water level in the tank 54 corresponds `to the level of the water in the supply reservoir 72 thus preventing too much water from entering the water ring 60.

Reverting lfor a moment to Figure 2 and to the pipe means 42 this receives oil by way of the pipe 76 which has an over-flow and venting pipe 78. Pipe 76 asV shown in the diagrammatic view in Figure 4 is connected with a safety oil feed regulating valve 80 which communicates by way of a cut-off valve 82 with the supply tank 84. Incidentally in Figure 4, the numeral 86 designates a spring which is connected with cable means 88 which in turn is joined by a fusiblesafety link 90. This arrangement is for automatically cutting out the supply of oil to the burner if heating conditions within the barn become abnormal.

Also as shown in Figure 4, there is a single burner provided and this connected with the flue means by way of a union 92 and the Vassociated ue branches 94,V 96 and 98. These branches join up with an externally disposed stack 100. Reverting to the so-called union 92, this is provided with a depending inlet duct 92a which telescopes over the truncated upper end of the conical adapter 20. vThus, when the burner is in operation the heated air is transmitted by way ofthe adapter 20 Vinto the union 92 and-then distributed through the circulating branches of the ue means in the barn.

In operation, it is necessary to make sure that the safety cut-off valve 82 is, of course, open and that the valveclosing cableVmeans-SS is properly connected by Way of a fusible link 90. The oil control valve is opened and oil is allowed to flow by way of the Vpipe means V76, 42 and V44 into the oil vaporizing and burner tube or ring 38. When the oil iills to the level shown at 52 in Figure 2 it then overows the upper threaded end of the trough filler pipe 48 and gravitates through the pipe into the trough and produces a well of oil in the trough 12. It is then necessary to turn the control valve back to lowV re stage and to ignite the priming oil in the trough. This can be done by way of a torch (not shown) or absorbing wadding material or waste which is saturated with oil and set on tire. The arning oil in the trough preheats the oil in the burner ring 38 and continues to do so until the stage arrives, after about l or l minutes, to turn the control valve to a higher heating stage. To raise the heat the oil control valve is opened gradually allowing several hours more or less to reach the desired stage and the incoming oil into the ring 38 is vapori'zed and the gas escapes in the form of jets by way of the oriices 40. Also by radiation anddirect flame the Water in the tank or container 54 is heated and gradually turned into vapor and escapes under pressure through the ports 64. Thus, by providing a pair of concentric coplanar ported cooperating rings and comingling the water vapor and vaporousV gas mix a highly combustible good ame producing fuel and consequent lire is unquestionably had.

Attention is called to the novel base means or casting unit 8 which is characterized by the oil receiving and priming trough wherein the annular plate or ange 14 projects in the plane from the bottom, provides passages for air and also provides a satisfactory ledge or seat for the lower end of the readily applicable and removable adapter cone, and wherein the inner wall of said trough has an elevated flange which provides the overliow channel and also a satisfactory seating and supporting ledge for the water ring 69, the feet 66 thereon and the interconnected tank 54 which is concentrically located in the opening means 28.

A simpler construction is shown in the modification seen in Figure 6 'wherein the trough in the base unit V102 is denoted by the numeral 104. The trough here has an outstanding plate, a ledge forming flange 166 with a marginal rib 103 supporting the lower end of the conical adapter 110. The air slots are denoted at 112. The overflow and return channel is denoted at 114 and the supporting legs at 116. The return pipe 118 connects with the overow channel. The oil delivery pipe 120 feeds oil by way of the elbow 122 into Vthe oil heating and Vaporizing ring or tube 124. This has orifices 126 and there is a filler pipe 128 which connects Ywith the oil space'in the ring and depends into the oil space of the trough. The ring has supporting legs 128'restiug in the trough. In this form of the invention the inner water heating and vaporizing ring is dispensed with and the container or tank 130 takes its place. Here the tank is a simple container which is positioned above the over-owchannel and is suitably supported and has its wall provided Vwith ports 132 which cooperate with the ports 126 in providing the desired interposed water and fuel mixing space between the periphery or wall of the tank and the inner periphery of the burner ring 124. The water Vdelivery pipi?, which keeps the water in the tank at a constant level, is denoted by the numeral 134.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawings. Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in the shape, size and arrangement of details coming within the iield of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

Having described my invention, what is claimed as new An oil burner for use in tobacco curing barns cornprising a horizontally disposed tubular burner ring provided around itsinner peripheral portion with gas emitting ports, conduit means communicatively connected with said ring and serving to feed oil from a valve controlled source to said ring, an elevated base unit having a horizontal Vopen top endless trough located in spaced relation directly beneath said burner ring, a vertical pipe adjustably connected with and having its upper end extending into the oil space in said ring and also having its lower end depending into said troughrto a point adjacent the bottom of the trough, said base u nit embodying an annular plate projecting outwardly beyond the outer peripheral portion of said trough and provided with air passages and further provided with outer marginal shoulder means and constituting an annular ledge, a'truncated adapter cone having its base portion resting on said ledge and held against displacement by said shoulder means,

Ythe inner peripheral portion of said trough having an endless oil overflow and retrieving channel, a water receiving and containing tank mounted in concentric relation in respect to the inner peripheral portion of said burner ring, said tank having a vertical wall provided with oriiice means, and a water ring interposed between and encircling the verticalwall of of said tank and spaced radially from the inner peripheral portion of said-burner ring, the inner peripheral portion of said water ring being in close proximity to and communicatively connected with the orilice means in said vertical wall and having its outer peripheral portion provided with orifices cooperating operatively with the orifices in said burner ring.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 248,635 Callison Oct. 25, 1881 349,228 Locke et al. Sept. 14, 1886 548,305 Elkins Oct. 22, 1895 556,355 Lannert et al Mar. 17, 1896 809,438 Galopin Ian. 9, 1906 6 Hinz Apr. 3, 1917 Bowman et al. Ian. 4, 1921 Slocum Aug. 19, 1924 Oswald et al Oct. 19, 1926 Kraft et al Oct. 11, 1932 Stollberg Feb. 25, 1936 Clarkson Dec. 12, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia May 26, 1911 

